Dehumidifier and centrifugal blower thereof

ABSTRACT

A dehumidifier includes a body having inlet and outlet ports and a centrifugal fan mounted inside the body to circulate air. The centrifugal fan includes a fan disk coupled to a fan motor such that the fan disk can be rotated, and the fan disk includes an incline inclined toward the outlet ports to guide the flow of air passing through the centrifugal fan to the outlet ports. The incline extends from a motor coupling part of the fan disk, which is coupled to the fan motor, in the radial direction. Blades are mounted at the outer circumference of the incline.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(a) from Korean Patent Application No. 2006-64546, filed on Jul. 10, 2006 in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present general inventive concept relates to a dehumidifier having a centrifugal blower, and, more particularly, to a dehumidifier wherein the structure of a centrifugal blower is modified to improve the blowing efficiency of the centrifugal blower.

2. Description of the Related Art

A dehumidifier is an apparatus that removes moisture from air using movement of heat generated during condensation. The dehumidifier includes a blowing fan to circulate room air. When a turbo fan is used as the blowing fan to blow a desired amount of air, noise is reduced as compared to when an axial fan is used as the blowing fan.

An example of a dehumidifier with a turbo fan is disclosed in Korean Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2002-12768. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the dehumidifier includes a cabinet 1 having an outlet port 1 b formed in the front part thereof and an inlet port 1 a formed in the rear part thereof, a turbo fan 3 mounted in the cabinet 1 to forcibly move room air, and an evaporator 4 disposed between the inlet port la and the turbo fan 3 to remove moisture from the air through heat exchange.

The flow direction of air in the dehumidifier is illustrated in FIG. 1. When a turbo fan 3 is rotated by a fan motor 2, room air is introduced through the inlet port 1 a. Moisture contained in the room air is removed as the air passes through the evaporator 4 and a condenser 5. Subsequently, the air passes through the turbo fan 3, and is discharged in the radial direction of the turbo fan 3.

In the conventional dehumidifier, the air discharged from the turbo fan 3 in the radial direction is not naturally guided to the outlet port 1 b, but instead the air collides with the side surfaces of the cabinet 1. As a result, flow resistance is greatly generated in the dehumidifier, and therefore, the blowing efficiency is decreased, and flow noise is generated. When a space between the outlet side of the turbo fan 3 and the cabinet 1 is decreased in order to reduce the size of the dehumidifier, the above-mentioned problems become more serious.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present general inventive concept provides a dehumidifier wherein the structure of a centrifugal blower is modified to improve the blowing efficiency of the centrifugal blower and to reduce noise.

Additional aspects and advantages of the present general inventive concept will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the general inventive concept.

The foregoing and/or other aspects and utilities of the present general inventive concept are achieved by providing a dehumidifier including a body having inlet and outlet ports and a centrifugal fan mounted in the body to circulate air. The centrifugal fan includes a fan disk coupled to a fan motor such that the fan disk can be rotated, and the fan disk includes an incline that can be inclined toward the outlet ports to guide the flow of air passing through the centrifugal fan to the outlet ports.

The fan disk can further include a motor coupling part, which is coupled to the fan motor, and the incline can extend from the motor coupling part in the radial direction.

The incline can include a first incline part connected to the motor coupling part and a second incline part bent from the first incline part toward the outlet ports and extending a predetermined length.

The centrifugal fan can further include blades mounted at the outer circumference of the incline.

The outlet ports can be disposed at opposite sides of a rear part of the body, and each outlet port includes an inclined outlet part extending toward each side of the rear part of the body while being inclined toward the interior of the body and a side outlet part formed in each side surface of the body while being connected to the inclined outlet part.

The body can include a protrusion protruding outward to maintain a predetermined distance between the outlet ports and a wall when the body is positioned adjacent to the wall.

The inlet ports can be formed in opposite sides of a front part of the body.

The dehumidifier can further include a heat exchanger mounted within the interior space of the body to remove moisture from the room air.

The heat exchanger can also include an evaporator to absorb heat and to condense moisture from the room air and a condenser to supply heat to the air passing through the evaporator.

The inlet ports can further include a filter mounted within each inlet port to remove foreign matter contained in the room air.

The foregoing and or other aspects and utilities of the present general inventive concept are also achieved by providing a dehumidifier including a body, outlet ports formed in opposite sides of a rear part of the body, and a centrifugal fan mounted in the body to circulate air, wherein the centrifugal fan includes a motor coupling part, which is coupled to a fan motor, an incline extending from the motor coupling part in the radial direction and inclined toward the outlet ports to naturally guide the flow of air to the outlet ports, and blades mounted at the incline.

The foregoing and or other aspects and utilities of the present general inventive concept are also achieved by providing a centrifugal blower mounted in a dehumidifier to circulate air including a fan motor and a fan disk coupled to the fan motor such that the fan disk can be rotated, wherein the fan disk includes an incline that is inclined toward outlet ports of the dehumidifier to guide the flow of discharged air to the outlet ports.

The foregoing and or other aspects and utilities of the present general inventive concept are also achieved by providing a dehumidifier including a body having a front portion including at least two inlet ports to intake air at different angles with respect to each other and a rear portion including at least two outlet ports to discharge the air therein outside the body at different angles with respect to each other, and a heat exchanging unit to dehumidify the air in the body before the air is discharged through the at least two outlet ports.

The dehumidifier can further include a blower device disposed between the heat exchanging unit and the at least two outlet ports to draw the air through the at least two inlet ports and the heat exchanging unit and to distribute the heat exchanged air to each of the at least two outlet ports.

The blower device can further include a disk-shaped portion that extends in a curved shape from a central portion toward the rear portion of the body, a motor coupling part disposed at the center of the blower device to couple with a motor, and blades extending along the outer periphery of the disk shaped portion and disposed to draw the dehumidified air into the blower device in an axial direction with respect to the disk-shaped portion and to blow the dehumidified air radially outward along a surface of the disk-shaped portion toward the at least two outlet ports.

The foregoing and or other aspects and utilities of the present general inventive concept are achieved by providing a method of dehumidifying air using a dehumidifier having a hollow body having inlet ports and outlet ports includes introducing room air through the inlet ports, passing the room air through a heat exchanger to remove moisture from the air, and drawing the air through a centrifugal blower in a first direction and blowing the drawn air toward a plurality of directions other than the first directions and out of a plurality of outlet ports disposed at different angles in a rear portion of the body.

The method can further include passing the room air through the heat exchanger and passing the air first through a condenser to supply heat to the room air and then through an evaporator to absorb heat and condense moisture from the room air. Passing the room air through the inlet ports may also include passing the air through a filter to remove foreign matter contained in the room air.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and/or other aspects and advantages of the present general inventive concept will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, of which:

FIG. 1 is a sectional view illustrating the flow direction of air in a conventional dehumidifier with a turbo fan;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating an external appearance of a dehumidifier according to an embodiment of the present general inventive concept;

FIG. 3 is a side view, illustrating the structure of the dehumidifier according to an embodiment of the present general inventive concept;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustrating a centrifugal fan of the dehumidifier according to an embodiment of the present general inventive concept; and

FIG. 5 is a view illustrating the operation of the dehumidifier according to an embodiment of the present general inventive concept.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Reference will now be made in detail to the embodiments of the present general inventive concept, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to the like elements throughout. The embodiments are described below in order to explain the present general inventive concept by referring to the figures.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating the external appearance of a dehumidifier according to an embodiment of the present general inventive concept, FIG. 3 is a side view illustrating the structure of the dehumidifier according to an embodiment of the present general inventive concept, and FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustrating a centrifugal fan of the dehumidifier according to an embodiment of the present general inventive concept.

As illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, the dehumidifier includes a body 10 having inlet ports 11, through which room air is introduced, and outlet ports 12, through which the air is discharged, a heat exchanger 20 mounted in the body 10 to perform heat exchange with the room air introduced through the inlet ports 11 such that moisture is removed from the room air, a centrifugal blower 100 disposed at the rear of the heat exchanger 20 to circulate the air, and a water bucket 30 disposed below the heat exchanger 20 to collect water condensed during dehumidification.

The inlet ports 11 are formed in opposite sides of a front part of the body 10. Inside each inlet port 11 is mounted a filter 13 to filter foreign matter contained in the room air. The outlet ports 12 are formed in opposite sides of a rear part 10 a of the body 10. Each outlet port 12 includes an inclined outlet part 12 a, which extends toward each side part 10 b of the body 10 while being inclined toward the interior of the body 10, and a side outlet part 12 b, which is formed in one side of each side surface 10 b of the body 10 while being connected to the inclined outlet part 12 a. The outlet ports 12 are formed in the opposite sides of the rear part 10 a of the body 10 in an inclined fashion, and the outlet ports 12 are also formed in one side of each side surface 10 b of the body 10, in consideration of blowing characteristics. Specifically, air is discharged from the centrifugal blower 100 in the radial direction of the centrifugal blower 100, i.e., toward the side parts 10 b of the body 10. When the outlet ports 12 are formed in the opposite sides of the rear part 10 a such that the inclined outlet parts 12 a are inclined toward the interior of the body 10, and the outlet ports 12 a are also formed in one side of each side surface 10 b, as illustrated in FIG. 2, air discharged from the centrifugal blower 100 is smoothly supplied into the interior of a room without a substantial flow resistance.

The body 10 has a first protrusion 14 formed between the two outlet ports 12 such that the first protrusion 14 protrudes to the rear of the body 10. When the body 10 is disposed adjacent to a wall of the room, the first protrusion 14 maintains a predetermined distance between the outlet ports 12 and the wall to prevent the outlet ports 12 from being blocked by the wall. Similarly, a second protrusion 15 is formed between the two inlet ports 11 such that the second protrusion 15 protrudes to the front of the body 10.

The interior of the body 10 is partitioned into front and rear interior parts by an intermediate partition 16. The heat exchanger 20 and the water bucket 30 are disposed in the front interior part of the intermediate partition 16. In the rear interior part of the intermediate partition 16 is disposed a compressor 17 to compress refrigerant to a high temperature and a high pressure. In the upper part of the intermediate partition 16 is formed a blowing port 16 a, through which air is blown. The centrifugal blower 100 is mounted in the blowing port 16 a.

A drain pan 18 having a drain port 18a formed in one side thereof is mounted between the heat exchanger 20 and the water bucket 30. The drain pan 18 collects condensed water, which falls from the heat exchanger 20, and discharges the collected water into the water bucket 30 located below the drain pan 18.

The heat exchanger 20 includes an evaporator 21 and a condenser 22. The evaporator 21 is disposed at the rear of the inlet ports 11 to absorb heat from the room air introduced through the inlet ports 11 and, at the same time, to condense moisture. The condenser 22 is disposed at the rear of the evaporator 21 to supply heat to the air passing through the evaporator 21.

The centrifugal blower 100 includes a fan motor 200 fixed to the intermediate partition 16 by way of a motor mount 19. The centrifugal blower 100 also includes a centrifugal fan 300 (see FIG. 4) that is rotated by the fan motor 200 to induce the flow of air.

As illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4, the centrifugal fan 300 includes a fan disk 310 coupled to the fan motor 200 such that the fan disk 310 can be rotated, a plurality of blades 320 mounted at the outer circumference of the front surface of the fan disk 310, and a shroud 330 mounted to the front ends of the blades 320. The shroud 330 has an opening 331 formed in the center thereof, through which air is introduced. When the centrifugal fan 300 is rotated by the fan motor 200, air is introduced in the axial direction of the fan 300 through the opening 331 in the shroud 330, and is discharged in the radial direction thereof.

According to the present general inventive concept, the fan disk 310 has an incline 311 which is inclined toward the outlet ports 12. The incline 311 naturally guides the flow of air passing through the centrifugal fan 300 toward the outlet ports 12 such that the air discharged from the centrifugal fan 300 can be smoothly discharged from the body 10 without a substantial resistance.

Also, the fan disk 310 has a motor coupling part 312, which is coupled to the fan motor 200. The incline 311 of the fan disk 310 extends from the motor coupling part 312 in the radial direction. The blades 320 are arranged along the outer circumference of the incline 311. The fan motor 200 is coupled to the motor coupling part 312 of the fan disk 310 through the opening 331 of the shroud 330.

The incline 311 includes a first incline part 311a inclined gently from the motor coupling part 312 to the rear of the centrifugal fan 300 and a second incline part 311 b bent from the first incline part 311 a toward the outlet ports 12 and extending a predetermined length. When air passing over the first incline part 311 a is discharged through the centrifugal fan 300, the air is moved such that the air is spread toward the outlet ports 12 by the second incline part 311 b.

Hereinafter, the operation of the dehumidifier according to the present general inventive concept will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 5. FIG. 5 is a view illustrating the operation of the dehumidifier according to the present general inventive concept.

When the operation of the dehumidifier is initiated, the centrifugal fan 300 is rotated by the fan motor 200, and therefore, room air is introduced through the inlet port 11. The room air is cooled through heat exchange with the evaporator 21 as the air passes through the evaporator 21. As a result, moisture contained in the air is condensed, and is then collected in the drain pan 18 disposed below the evaporator 21. Subsequently, the air passes through the condenser 22. As a result, the air is supplied with heat, and is then introduced into the centrifugal fan 300 through the opening 331 of the shroud 330.

The air introduced into the centrifugal fan 300 is guided along the fan disk incline 311 of the fan disk 310, and then flows to the outlet ports 12 formed in the body 10. As a result, the air discharged from the centrifugal fan 300 is naturally discharged through the outlet ports 12 without substantial resistance. Consequently, the blowing efficiency is improved, and noise is reduced.

The condensed water, which is collected in the drain pan 18, is discharged through the drain port 1 8a, and is received in the water bucket 30.

As apparent from the above description, air passing through the centrifugal fan is naturally guided to the outlet ports. Consequently, the blowing efficiency of the centrifugal blower is improved, and flow noise is reduced.

Also, the structure and the location of the outlet ports are modified in consideration of the blowing characteristics of the centrifugal blower. Consequently, air discharged from the centrifugal blower is smoothly discharged into a room without substantial flow resistance.

Furthermore, the protrusions are formed on the body of the dehumidifier such that the protrusions protrude to the front and rear of the body. Consequently, it is possible to prevent the outlet ports from being blocked by a wall of the room, even when the dehumidifier is positioned adjacent to the wall, and therefore, the blowing operation is smoothly performed.

Although a few embodiments of the present general inventive concept have been shown and described, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the general inventive concept, the scope of which is defined in the appended claims and their equivalents. 

1. A dehumidifier comprising: a body having inlet and outlet ports and a centrifugal fan mounted in the body to circulate air, the centrifugal fan including a fan disk coupled to a fan motor such that the fan disk can be rotated, the fan disk including an incline which inclines toward the outlet ports to guide the flow of air passing through the centrifugal fan to the outlet ports.
 2. The dehumidifier according to claim 1, wherein the fan disk further includes a motor coupling part coupled to the fan motor, and the incline extends from the motor coupling part in a radial direction.
 3. The dehumidifier according to claim 2, wherein the incline includes a first incline part connected to the motor coupling part and a second incline part bent from the first incline part toward the outlet ports and extending a predetermined length.
 4. The dehumidifier according to claim 1, wherein the centrifugal fan further includes blades mounted at the outer circumference of the incline.
 5. The dehumidifier according to claim 1, wherein the outlet ports are disposed at opposite sides of a rear part of the body, and each outlet port includes an inclined outlet part extending toward each side part of the body while being inclined toward the interior of the body.
 6. The dehumidifier according to claim 5, wherein each outlet port further includes a side outlet part formed in each side surface of the body while being connected to the inclined outlet part.
 7. The dehumidifier according to claim 1, wherein the body includes a protrusion protruding outward to maintain a predetermined distance between the outlet ports and a wall when the body is positioned adjacent to the wall.
 8. The dehumidifier according to claim 1, wherein the inlet ports are formed in opposite sides of a front part of the body.
 9. The dehumidifier according to claim 1, further comprising a heat exchanger mounted within the interior space of the body to remove moisture from a room air received through the inlet ports.
 10. The dehumidifier according to claim 9, wherein the heat exchanger comprises: an evaporator to absorb heat and condense moisture from the room air; and a condenser to supply heat to the air passing through the evaporator.
 11. The dehumidifier according to claim 1, wherein the inlet ports comprise two inlet ports each including a filter mounted therein to remove foreign matter contained in the received room air.
 12. A dehumidifier comprising: a body including outlet ports formed in opposite sides of a rear part of the body; and a centrifugal fan mounted in the body to circulate air, wherein the centrifugal fan includes a motor coupling part, which is coupled to a fan motor, an incline extending from the motor coupling part in a radial direction thereof and inclined toward the outlet ports to naturally guide the flow of air toward the outlet ports, and blades mounted at the incline.
 13. A centrifugal blower mounted in a dehumidifier to circulate air, the centrifugal blower comprising: a fan motor; and a fan disk coupled to the fan motor such that the fan disk can be rotated, wherein the fan disk includes an incline inclined toward outlet ports of the dehumidifier to guide the flow of air toward the outlet ports.
 14. The centrifugal blower according to claim 10, wherein the fan disk further includes a motor coupling part, coupled to the fan motor, and the incline extends from the motor coupling part in a radial direction of the fan disk.
 15. A dehumidifier, comprising: a body having a front portion including at least two inlet ports to intake air at different angles with respect to each other and a rear portion including at least two outlet ports to discharge the air therein outside the body at different angles with respect to each other; and a heat exchanging unit to dehumidify the air in the body before the air is discharged through the at least two outlet ports.
 16. The dehumidifier according to claim 15, further comprising a blower device disposed between the heat exchanging unit and the at least two outlet ports to draw the air through the at least two inlet ports and the heat exchanging unit and to distribute the heat exchanged air to each of the at least two outlet ports.
 17. The dehumidifier according to claim 16, wherein the blower device comprises: a disk-shaped portion that extends in a curved shape from a central portion toward the rear portion of the body; a motor coupling part disposed at the center of the blower device to couple with a motor; and blades extending along the outer periphery of the disk shaped portion and disposed to draw the dehumidified air into the blower device in an axial direction with respect to the disk-shaped portion and to blow the dehumidified air radially outward along a surface of the disk-shaped portion toward the at least two outlet ports.
 18. A method of dehumidifying air the method comprising: introducing room air through inlet ports disposed at different angles in a back portion of a body; passing the room air through a heat exchanger in a first direction to remove moisture from the air; and blowing the air passing through the heat exchanger toward a plurality of directions other than the first direction and out of a plurality of outlet ports disposed at different angles in a front portion of the body.
 19. The method of claim 18, wherein passing the room air through the heat exchanger further comprises passing the air first through a condenser to supply heat to the room air and then through an evaporator to absorb heat and condense moisture from the room air.
 20. The method of claim 18, wherein passing the room air through the inlet ports further comprises passing the air through a filter to remove foreign matter contained in the room air. 